


Cast of One

by LadyHedoniste



Category: Gambit (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Also some happy stuff, Angst, Child Abuse, Crime, Drabble Sequence, Fabian Nicieza series spoilers, Gen, Jean-Luc being a bit of a prick, Laura/Jubilee/Logan/Remy as a family unit, Major Spoilers, No Plot, No pairings - Freeform, Pre and Post-Antarctica, Rogue being a massive asshole, Slavery, The X-Men also canonically being dicks, implied sexual assualt of minors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-19 05:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1457437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHedoniste/pseuds/LadyHedoniste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remy has played a great many roles in his lifetime, not all of them by choice.</p><p>A collection of moments from the life of Remy LeBeau. No plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1-2

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something I'm working on while I flesh out the plot details for another, more formal Gambit AU story. This is based mostly on canon stuff, with some speculative stuff for facts we either don't know about or are vague. There are no pairings shipped in this, although I will touch briefly on canon relationships and flirtations. I don't ship Rogue/Remy, I'm ambivalent towards Bella Donna, and I shudder at the idea of shipping him with Storm, Jubilee, or X-23 (for obvious reasons), and as much as enjoy Remy/Logan and Gambit/Courier, there won't be anything beyond maybe flirtation here. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

**\- Infant -** **  
**

A man waits anxiously at his wife's side as she breathes irregular breathes. He squeezes her hands gently and she smiles up at him, a little self-conscious. She asks the nurse for something to wipe the sweat away from her eyes, and the nurse hands the man a small, wet towel.

Her hand fidgets with the delicate cross that hangs from her. In between breaths, she silently prays that her son will be okay, that he will have all ten fingers and toes. She hopes also that it won't take very long to shed off the extra weight she has gained, but for now, just the chance to finally hold him is enough.

Her husband kisses her hand as the doctor announces that he can see a head. Its not very long before they see the rest of him. He has all ten toes, all ten fingers, and he is beautiful. The doctor carefully hands him to his mother as his meek cries carry through the room.

The man laughs in wonder. "Hello, my son," he says and caresses his tiny face.

A moment later, the infant boy opens his eyes to the world.

The horrified screams of his mother drown out his cries.

 

**\- Devil -** **  
**

The Rod 'n Serpent is not particularly full for the time of day, so Nurse Emily Green is served almost immediately after she enters the pub that sits directly across from the Oschner Baptist Medical Centre. It's the end of a very long shift, and she orders as stiff a drink as she can stomach. A colleague waves to her from a table at the far end of the pub, and she is grateful that she will have company tonight.

After two more drinks, she sighs comfortably and leans back into the plush booth. "I tell you, I reaaaally needed this. You would not believe the day I had. It was hard enough dealing with the first two patients on my route, but god..." she pauses, shaking her head as she takes a sip of her whiskey.

Her colleague, Nurse Jenny Alister, raises her eyebrow. "Go on..." she says.

Emily looks her colleague directly in the eyes, takes another sip of her drink, and leans forward, speaking quietly. "This didn't come from me, okay? There was a birth today. Really unusual birth. Everything seemed hunky-dory with him at first, you know? Normal, crying baby. Average weight, digits all accounted for. Then the kid opens his eyes, and all hell breaks loose. I swear to god, he has these big black eyes with red irises. I shit you not." Jenny whistles, and she continues.

"The mother starts screaming bloody murder and hands him right the fuck back. Refuses to touch him. I tried to calm her down, but she just starts crying and praying. And the father...goddamn. You always hear stories about a white couple and a black baby, but man, this was so much worse. He really laid into her...accusing her of all kinds of shit. Devil worship, black magic. The fool even suggested she fucked a vampire. "

Jenny cringes. "What did the doctor say? Please don't tell me he left before the meltdown."

"No, he stuck around long enough to tell them that maybe it was just a birth defect, or a mutation of some kind. I mean, you hear a lot on the news about people like that these days. He said we'd look into it and have him sent to a specialist if need be. All the while, they're just staring at the kid, and they're not having it." She sighs sadly, and downs the rest of her whiskey.

Jenny finishes her own drink and shrugs."Eh...what are the chances? Baby with demon eyes born in a Catholic-Voodoo city to superstitious parents. Some people have no luck." She motions to the bartender for the bill. "So, what happened, did they call a exorcist or something?"

"Nah, I wish. Father just stormed out and left his wife there for a few hours. I was with her for an hour or so, but I had other patients to get to. When I came back to check on her, her bed was empty. I asked around, and it sounds like he came back for her and they just snuck out somehow The baby is still in the goddamn nursery. They just left him there! They seemed so damn excited before, and then they just left him there when he came out a little different."

"Jesus Christ."

"Phoned the cops, and they tried to track them down. They weren't at home, so they might be hiding out somewhere else right now."

"What about the paperwork? The birth certificate?"

Emily sighs disgust. "Blank, for the most part. They didn't even want to give him a name, so I'm a little stumped, to be honest. I'm getting the feeling this will not end happily for him, so he's probably gonna get send to an orphanage if we can't get them to take responsibility for him."

Jenny nods, and pays for her friend's bill. Emily laughs and gives her a half-hug as she signs the slip. "Thanks, sweetie, you didn't have to."

"Oh no, I'm pretty sure I do. You've had a hell of a day. Go home. Feed your face and sleep. I'll call you a cab."

Emily thanks her again and heads to the bathroom.

Jenny picks up the payphone and quickly dials a number she doesn't get to use very often. The phone rings only once before a woman picks it up and asks her business. She speaks quickly and quietly in Cajun French.  
"Hello, Claudette. I need to speak with Jean-Luc. Quickly, please, I don't have much time!"  
Wordlessly, Claudette transfers her to Jean-Luc LeBeau's private phone line. Again, it rings only once before the Patriarch of the Thieves Guild answers. "Yes?"

"The child you were looking for is here at Oschner. His parents are missing, and I can almost guarantee they won't be back. Paper-trail is minimal. You need to get here before social services takes over."

"Oh? You have my thanks, Jeanne. You've been of great help."

"Do me a favour please, and have a cab sent to The Rod & Serpent. I don't have enough change and my source will be back any moment now," she said, glancing at the bathroom door.

"No problem. Shadows hide you, Jeanne. See you at the next tithing."

She hung up the phone just as Emily came through the door. Jenny smiled. "They said it'll be about ten minutes."

"Thanks doll, you're a saint."  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only one part this time. Hopefully not too melodramatic...

**\- Gift -**

  
Jean-Luc LeBeau stared at the sleeping child in front of him in quiet, grim contemplation. He was very much between the proverbial rock and a hard place with this one. He could either hand over the baby to that...vile man, or lose access to all the lore and prophecies of the Old Kingdom, and therefore also the favour of his people.

  
It left foul taste in his mouth, to think of the Velvet Ministry and the so called "Collection." Who knew the full extent of what really happened to all of those children or where they all came from? No matter how you looked at it, they were all slaves, and would be sold to the kind of people that thought a human child was a commodity worth purchasing. There was likely not a single happy story that came out of that building in all the centuries since it was built. He had no desire to send this lamb to the wolf.

  
And yet...this was something that could cause a schism in the Guild. Candra's appetite for wealth seemed to grow with every tithing, in proportion to her boredom with their offerings. No jewel was large enough. No painting rare enough. If they lost the continued support of the Antiquary, locating new spoils interesting enough to placate her with would prove more difficult. If they lost her favour, they would lose access to the elixer and would be one step closer to the death of the Old Kingdom.

  
He had been entrusted with the postion of Patriarch by the very man who saved his life almost a century ago and ended the misguided rule of his father. A man who shared his eyes with the baby in front of him, and who spoke as if he knew exactly what the future would hold. His father had called him "Le Diable Blanc" and done all he could to discredit his words, but the man had seemed certain that Jean-Luc would be a capable leader.

  
Jean-Luc tried not to think of the theoretical implications of these facts; he had been around long enough to know that time travel was a real thing, but would never claim to have any understanding as to how it worked. The Momentary Princess had, after all, eluded him each time he came close to possessing it. He had no way of knowing whether or not the decision he made over the child's destination would have any affect on the events of his past, but it would absolutely affect the child's future.

  
The knowledge that the Antiquary knew of his existence and sought him so adamantly was disquieting. It meant he knew something. Children with strange features were born almost every day, but the Antiquary had never (to his knowledge) shown any interest in "mutants". If this boy and that man were one and the same, then he was connected to the guild and was likely a figure of some importance in the prophecies. He knew very little about the white devil of guild lore; anything of substance was secret, and in place of knowledge, speculation and folk legends flourished. In one story, he was the first thief who ever lived. In another, he was an omen of iminent capture. Clearly, the former myth was untrue.

  
One thing he did know: the Antiquary had no intent to sell the boy. He had made it clear that the child would have every luxury in the world at his fingertips and would never have to do hard labour. He would have a wet nurse and toys, and would be tutored like all the others. There would be no foster homes and instability. No shame at being rejected by his parents. Have every assurance that he was wanted and respected. Jean-Luc knew that he spoke the truth, but the nausea remained.

  
There was another problem, of course. The Assassins Guild had been making life more difficult for them than usual, and Marius Boudreaux had had three of his people killed that year alone. The last attempt at a truce had ended in insults and bloodshed. There had even been an insinuation that something unfortunate would happen to his son, Henri. He couldn't put the child under guild protection and risk his life at the hands of assassins. Nor could he give the child to an orphanage; the Antiquary would simply break ties with the guild and have him abducted.

  
He stared long and hard at the pile of blankets. The baby stirred and started wailing miserably. Jean-Luc picked up the child and tried to soothe him, with little success. He needed to be fed, but his mother was long gone. Jean-Luc frowned as he remembered that the Antiquary kept a wet-nurse on staff. As much as he wanted to deny it, his reasons for prolonging a meeting with that disgusting sorcerer had run out.

  
"I'm sorry," he said to the still wailing child. "I'm so sorry." He looked into watery black depths and wandered for a moment if the child really was a demon and this was all just a very cruel test. If this would be the moment he got condemned to hellfire (if hadn't already secured a one-way ticket to the Eighth Circle). "I'll keep watch on you. I won't let him hurt you. I...won't let him," he finished, lamely. _I'll kill him myself if he does_ , he thought privately. _I'll flay him, and leave him in the swamp_.

  
He put down the child and walked out the room. He walked down the hall to where Mattie sat with a dark expression. "I'm going to make the call. Please watch him until they arrive."

  
"Jean-Luc, why are you doing this? You know what that man is capable of," she said, staring at the office door where the crying child lay. She stayed seated, fighting every instinct inside her head.

  
"I know. There is nothing I can do tonight that will not cause harm. But right now, this is all I can do. This is the...safest thing I can do for him. Tonight, I must choose the guild."

  
Mattie stood up wordlessly and went to fetch the child, as Jean-Luc stewed in his own guilt. The boy was still sobbing, but was quieting a little bit in her arms. She carefully cradled his head and hummed softly. Jean-Luc swallowed a lump in his throat. Eventually, the boy calmed down, and fell asleep. "Know one thing, Jean-Luc," said Mattie, still gazing at infant. "You are a lesser man because of that choice. You could have risked the guild morale. The rest of the world makes do not knowing what the next day will hold. If that dirty viper of a man  lays a hand on him, or warps his mind, or tries to sell him, I will never, ever forgive you."

Jean-Luc looked her in the eye and sighed. "Neither will I."  
  



End file.
